Comparison of shoulder Magnetic Resonance Imaging findings between patients with stage 4 chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis patients with healthy controls.

BACKGROUND

Shoulder involvement is frequently observed in chronic renal disease (CRD) and hemodialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim is to compare shoulder Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings of stage 4 CRD patients naive to dialysis, hemodialysis patients and healthy controls.

METHODS

Twenty hemodialysis patients with shoulder pain (Group 1), 30 hemodialysis patients without shoulder pain (Group 2), 20 patients with stage 4 CRD (Group 3) and 30 healthy controls (Group 4) were enrolled. Urea, creatinine and β2 microglobulin were measured. Thickness, homogeneity and integrity of rotator cuff and presence of effusion were examined by MRI.

RESULTS

Supraspinatus tendon was thicker in Group 1 compared to other groups, whereas infraspinatus tendon was thicker in Group 1 compared to Groups 2 and 4. Although all tendons thickness was higher in Group 3 than Group 4, there was no significant difference. Most effusion areas were present in Group 1, followed by Groups 2 and 3. There was a significant correlation between glomerular filtration rate and thickness of supraspinatus, infraspinatus tendons and between β2 microglobulin and thickness of infraspinatus, subscapularis tendons and total number of areas with effusion.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased shoulder tendon thickness and effusion were detected in symptomatic dialysis patients, while greater effusion areas were detected in asymptomatic dialysis patients and in stage 4 CRD patients who do not require dialysis compared to healthy controls.